Maltby Pelletreau was the second generation of this illustrious silversmithing family. His partnership with Bennett and Cook lasted only three years, so the date range for this item is pleasantly narrow...
Though his work is ardently sought by collectors, Porter's output was not always of consistent quality. His soldering was occasionally sloppy, and his hammer marks were at times random. Here, the seams are nearly invisible, and the art peen hammering (please see third enlargement) is laid out masterfully along the vertical axis...
Most American silver manufacturers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries offered some variant of the Chrysanthemum pattern. As faithful readers of our little web page will know, here is my favorite one of them all...
For those who favor comparison shopping, a similar though inferior pair by this same maker weighing only 5.7 oz. Troy sold at Julien's for 875.00 (See catalogue of the Ronnie & Jo Wood collection, 10/26/2012, lot 308).
There is slight tip wear from right handed use, a few minor insults to the bowl (including a scratch, reverse), and significant wear to the monogram "B / E * E". On the whole, however, this spoon presents itself well. To quote Quimby in American Silver at Winterthur, "Stoutenburgh left a small body of high quality work"...
These come and go, but I don't think we've ever owned one where the chasing is so crisp and the original oxidation hasn't been at least partially removed by some overzealous owner...
If only we knew a bit more about Minnie, a good tale might be told, but alas we know nothing of this lass.
Even without the exquisitely engraved blade this would have been a rare find, so we're doubly pleased. Note: although this server is hollow handled, we do not believe it to be weighted.
This lovely example is entirely hand wrought, and dates from 1948...
One factor which ultimately contributed to the demise of his firm was that George Shiebler's best designs were difficult to execute and costly to produce. Not many of these forks were made, and the surviving examples vary in quality and condition...
If pressed as to why you, dear reader, should buy these Iris fish forks as opposed to some others listed elsewhere on the interwebz, I'd have to say that ours are probably in better condition. If pressed even harder, I'd confess that these are also attractively priced.
On Hold
What sets this item apart from other examples which have recently been on the market is, simply stated, condition. Not only are the floral decorations crisp and untouched by polishing wear, but their gentle background of chasing marks remains (see third photo), creating an effect of kumatage, as if the decorations were suspended in a pool of rippling water...
For related items by this maker, see Forbes figure 61c and Chait number 251. This is the first China Trade strainer spoon we've encountered in the course of twenty eight years...
A William C. Codman design, identical examples may be found in both the Jolie and Robert Shelton Collection, "Magnificent, Marvelous Martelé," pp. 498-9 and the MFA Boston, accession number 2001.804
